Educational and Leadership Reflection:

Love-Driven Support Through it All

            It is difficult for me to fully describe the benefits and growth I have experienced while working at each Discover Loyola session, expanding my knowledge about different leadership approaches and delving into my own personal view on Ignatian Spirituality. I want to recollect the importance of the second-class session of University 390 this summer. It was then when I received a wallet size copy of Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s Daily Examen.

When I observed the small card and read each reflection I contemplated back to when I was in Rome, Italy and saw Saint Ignatius’ hand written copy of his Spiritual Exercises. It is a small leather bound notebook with very worn edges. The writing was barely legible but I could make out the small letters outlining each page. It was last semester, on a warm Saturday as I stood in Saint Ignatius’ room, which is now a museum, and the magnitude of that small notebook sitting inside a minute glass case meant nothing to me compared to what it does today. I can now articulate how much I have learned about the history of the Jesuit tradition and leadership because of this summer. I can reflect each day with my little wallet sized card and understand the tradition and value of recalling daily activities.

I want to call to mind the presence of God in all parts of each day and be grateful for my opportunities and what is to come tomorrow. This summer has granted me a chance to see what I hope to become and the goals I wish to accomplish, like becoming an international lawyer and starting a family on my values and morals. The discussions that I have with my classmates and co-workers push me to think about new ideas and opportunities that I would have never known about.

In this refection I will discuss three main ideas, the first being what I have learned over the summer and how it ties in to the bigger picture of my life. Secondly how the Jesuit leadership style of Love-Driven leadership is something I want to emulate every day. Thirdly, how my future will be affected by the growth I have experienced in the past three months. 

This summer has been incredibly important to me. I begin my senior year at Loyola University Chicago this August and I will be starting with a newfound confidence and security. I was incredibly nervous and stressed about leaving Loyola and beginning again. I will be the only one in my family to attend law school. This means I will have no one to tell me I am doing okay or if I will be fine when I get stressed. The experience to come will be entirely new for my family and I, but after this summer I am not anxious anymore. What I have learned over the last three months is beyond book smarts or streets smarts. I have acquired something more intangible. I like to describe it the way I do my personal value of faith, in that it too is something intangible but deeply valuable to myself.

Throughout Discover Loyola training I, along with my co-workers were asked numerous times what our values are. I described my value of faith as something that can never be taken from me. Unlike my material possessions, my faith can never be taken from me. I always think of the Christian martyrs in the Roman Empire. When they were locked up and tortured they never gave up faith because it was the one thing that persecutors could not take from them. My growing faith as well as what I have learned in this course paired with my experience as an orientation leader has given me indefinable skills that will never be taken from me. I have been challenged and pushed to achieve my full potential. I have also realized that Love-Driven leadership is a style in which I want to emulate.

Love-Driven Leadership is something I have never understood. I knew there was such a thing as fear imposing leadership as I looked back at historical models. When I read Machiavelli’s “The Prince” I understood the historical context to be necessary of fear driven leadership. He believed that there was a dire need for change in the structure of control. I never thought that the argument between whether it is better for a leader to be loved or feared would arise in a course focused on Ignatian leadership.

I had actually never known the four pillars of Ignatian leadership existed let alone that one of them was love. The four pillars of Love, Ingenuity, Self-Awareness, and Heroism have expanded my knowledge and bond to the Jesuit style of education and leadership by showing me successful and faithful leadership. For example how Saint Ignatius worked with his fellow Jesuits on the other side of the globe, like Xavier, with a love driven communication of trust and support to do what needed to be done. I now understand that Love-Driven leadership is an effective leadership strategy.  After learning different approaches to leadership I can now synthesize what I learned in the classroom to my actions throughout leading orientation sessions at Loyola. I have done this in my groups by sharing my voice and using adequate body language and tone to welcome the students to share their opinion, thoughts and fears. I identify Love-driven leadership as the root of my leadership because of this experiential learning opportunity. When a student that was not in my group was lost and frustrated about orientation I sat with him outside of Simpson Multi Purpose Room and shared with him my experiences about being a nervous and lonely incoming student at Loyola. This was one example of where I can see this style of Love-Driven leadership pushing me to become a better leader.

When addressing my group of students in the beginning of each Discover Loyola session, it was difficult to begin conversations because I did not know the student’s backgrounds and interests. Dialogue gradually became easier once everyone shared his or her information, including mine. It was more comfortable to talk about college and the things about it that would actually interest the group. Acknowledging someone’s interests brings an opportunity to maximize their potential at Loyola by introducing them to activities, organizations and classes.  This would spark ideas and a welcomed attitude to aid students in pursuing their interests further.

Ignatian history and the leaders that made up that history cared a lot about maximizing human potential. They wanted to help someone use the beautiful individualized gifts that God had given them for great things. This enlightening idea has brought me so much growth this summer as a person recognizing my own potential as a leader.

Handling course group work efficiently is another way where individual talents and gifts proved important throughout this summer. This has been one example where we reflected the ingenuity pillar of Ignatian leadership. Every group project in class required hours outside of class that needed to be spent creating ideas and formulating presentations. This is where each member can express his or her talents and interests. For example I am not technically trained in presentation programs, but I love to present in front of groups and engage discussions.

The frequency of group activities and the prevalence it has in the work force is irreplaceable. You cannot do everything alone and therefore need the support of other people and talents. Working with so many groups this summer has helped me build the confidence I will need as a lawyer. Each group dynamic and setting is different and having experience in many different examples helps me become more qualified and confident.

The video we watched in the first day of class with one dancer on the hill represents something very important about group work. There may be many leaders within a group setting but there is always one that begins the conversation and steps up. Like the video, they may be looked at as alone at first but others eventually start to follow the pattern that one individual began. The most important thing that I got from that video was that I can be that one person on a hill who will stand up and start dancing to the beat in my head.

There have been many times in my life before where I would not even dare to be on a hill dancing alone. Before my senior year of high school I was extremely shy and silently passed each day by with homework and marching band. I never thought of leadership as an option. That was until one day I was chosen by my peers and teachers to be a Kiaros leader at our school wide spiritual retreat. After giving an extremely personal speech to my peers I received a sense of confidence that has never left me. That day I opened my heart out and shared compassion, which in turn built a new level of courage.

Later in my senior year I tried out to become the next drum major of my high school marching band, a position that three years earlier I would never have considered myself qualified for. Soon after that I chose to attend Loyola University Chicago without knowing anyone else attending. I set a goal for myself and wanted to build more levels of courage and leadership. Now as I think back to that time of my life I can now attest to the great decision it was to attend Loyola.

As I synthesize all that I have learned in the last three months with my past experiences and what I hope to accomplish in the future I can truly understand what is important to me. I realize that I would never have gotten to where I am today if it was not for the Love-Driven support I have received through everything. Although I do not see my family everyday I know there loving arms of support are behind every telephone call. Realizing that love is a value that can be seen in all that humans do whether it is intentional or not is a reality I will never forget. The Jesuits used love as a guiding principle to create one of the most influential educational institutions in the entire world and I am extremely proud to be apart of their community.